Restoration for profit

[ccnautical]

I am looking for some advice or experiences of people restoring a boat with the intention of selling it for profit as opposed to keeping the boat for yourself. Similiar to what people do with restoring/flipping houses. A few articles I saw stated that it is a losing venture.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Restoration for profit

A few people on this board did that - and made some money. The majority of them were mainly cosmetc rebuilds. Other than that you will be lucky to break even. Unfortunately, boat restroation will have to reamin a hobby.

 

[JB]

Re: Restoration for profit

Houses are a very different thing than boats, CC. They appreciate and they include land, which appreciates faster than the house.

Making a major repair and then detailing a very cheap salvage purchase has a chance of being profitable if it is a popular model of a popular make. A true restoration of a boat with age problems will almost certainly cost more than it is worth.

I once sold a boat that I had repaired and detailed for more than I had in it, but every other boat I had done major work on lost me a ton . . . .and they were all Boston Whalers!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Restoration for profit

i make more money on buying older motors real cheap, and parting them out. there's not much profit there. on the boats i'm lucky if i break even, no including my labor. it's a hobby, and keeps me out of trouble.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Restoration for profit

Flipping boats only works if you get a desirable boat dirt cheap and don't have to do hardly any work. That rarely if ever happens. The reality is if a boat is dirt cheap it is because it has a lot of problems. Problems equals cost. The way around that is to leave your ethics in the trunk of your car and basically sell crap boats and lie about their problems. Believe me, it happens all the time. Katrina has spawned a slew of sunken boats being sold. I wouldn't even buy a boat from the southeast because of Katrina.

If you are ethical, then you might want to pass on boat flipping. They depreciate at an alarming rate unless they are high quality boats like Boston Whalers that tend to stay stable in their resale value.

No such thing as easy money and boats in the same sentence...

 

[drewpster]

Re: Restoration for profit

I always say if a part, process, or construction has the word "marine" attached to it, you can count on adding 40% to its cost, and 20% to its effort. Apparently a profit in the marine world means you have to build em cheap and sell em expensive. That's why we have to put all the effort and money into them now. Its a shame we want things to be right in our boats, we would probably allot richer and healthier if we could do things half way like the manufacturers did.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Restoration for profit

Flippin can be kinda fun but I wouldn't tie up any mortgage money in doing it. You have to have a good feel for your local market, be reasonably handy and willing to take a risk. I flipped 5 or 6 some years back and rolled the $ I made into buying bigger boats. I started with an 11' wood sailboat and wound up with a 19' outboard. I'm not sure I would want to do it today due to the high technology and cost of todays engines.

Lets say you think there is a market for a 19' boat that will sell at around $4,500. You buy a fixer upper for $2K and plan on putting a grand into it plus your labor (at no cost). That should yield a $1,500.00 profit - - - and that can be done. However if you take it out for a test run and the powerhead or gearcase blows up you will go through that $1,500.00 can be spent real quickly even if you do the work yourself.

Location and season play a much bigger part in boat transactions than cars. What will sell quickly in the northeast in May may not move at all in November.

 

[Cleaniedini]

Re: Restoration for profit

I am doing it... Sorta.
Here is the deal, bank repos a boat and gets it for cheap. Hires me to refit the boat that has a high inharent value and I work on the boat for cheap with a portion of the profits at the end. You can't do this on any boat. A hatteras LRC is what I am working on. It has a large following as well as a high value. The boat was purchased cheap and I know alot of people to get high value items in the boat for much less than wholesale. I can do 90% of the work myself and hire out all the dirty work to college students on break for close to minimum wage.

You have to know alot of people and be able to do work yourself and put in items that other people can't for cheaper then they can. The bigger the boat the more chance there is for profits.

On the other side, my brother takes very small boats. Only Boston Whalers, they have a very strong following up in New England and they are always in demand. He only deals with boats from the 1980's becuase the ones now are crap. Everyone wants a 1980's whalers. They are fast and won't sink and just great boats. He finds one for cheap 1000-2000 then puts in new wood and does a few other small things. Gets the engine checked out and replaces water pumps and such then sells it for 4000-7000. He puts like 100 Hours into it and it usually takes him about 6 months to find the right buyer.

With yachts you need to have your ducks in a row to take on that risk and be REALLY GOOD. I would not do it myself. The bank hired me as a partner in the project so i have some risk if it doesn't sell but i am not fronting the money for ANYTHING and I am getting paid along the way to do the work (stipen).

Think of it this way, if you buy an old Burger you can't really go wrong if putting money into it because you will get it back. If you get somethign like a Hi-Tech you will lose lots of money and it is a toss up with a Hatteras. You need to get something at a deal. If the final value will be about 800000 you need to buy it for 200000-300000. Then you need to plan on putting 100000-200000 into it then you may sit on the boat for a few years. But if you do good work and use good products and can do most of the work yourself then you are good to go.

Dini
www.cleaniedini.com

check out the project at www.cleaniedini.com/hatteras.htm

 

[iwombat]

Re: Restoration for profit

Around here a person could probably make it work by buying a workable boat in the dead of winter, cleaning it up a bit, and selling it in the spring or summer.

That wouldn't really be a resto project though, more of a market speculation deal. I think once you toss the $$ into a real resto, you'll come out behind.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Restoration for profit

i make more money on buying older motors real cheap, and parting them out. there's not much profit there. on the boats i'm lucky if i break even, no including my labor. it's a hobby, and keeps me out of trouble.

I do the same thing...bust my butt all during the winter off season snagging old motors, Ebaying the parts, find I get a runner and can't sell it, and it snowballed into 20 motors and 5 boats. After the fun and games, it barely pays for summers gas. But as T-Dad, its a hobby, learn a lot of the old iron, and just a hobby. Theres an old Barrelback something on Craigslist for 500 bucks that is restorable. Now THAT with a LOT of elbow grease would give a nice return, but its still a hobby, and that would be a woodworkers hobby. Only boats I've made money on were neighbors sold on commission

 

[A Fn Noob]

Re: Restoration for profit


I think the key is finding the desireable boats. Hydrostream, Glastron, Allison (Allisoncraft), Go-fast boats and also certain bassboats can make money. Fixing up paw-paw's old 64 tri-hull is throwing money into a hole in the water, as they say.

 

[tommays]

Re: Restoration for profit

Even when moneys no object its a hard road i was a good friend of Bobs father before he passed away and it took a lot of guts to make a go of it


Tommays

 

[car5car]

Re: Restoration for profit

I have bought 99 See Doo Challendger 1800 for $1600. Book value is 7500. Engines have water inside but I have several years engine fixing experience. So even if you bought it you would be charged 5-6K if you cannot fix it yourself. I guess you can make good money on boats if you buy 3 books: engine repair, electrical repair and fiberglass boat repair. Good luck.

 

[tmh]

Re: Restoration for profit

If my wife would let me AND I had the space to store them, I'd try buying a few boats that run OK but look weathered at the end of the season (fall/winter) doing basic cosmetic stuff, buffing them up to look their best then try selling for a profit in the spring. I haveno idea if it would make money, but good deals can be had late in the season,

I don't see that one could make real money fixing up wrecks though. Maybe if you figure $0 for labor you can make a buck or two I guess. I'd say the cosmetics are sometimes cheap and fairly easy and can add value. I can't believe how many boats I see for sale that haven't been compounded and buffed! No way they get full value for them. My boat was like this and it took me all of a few hours to at least make it LOOK a TON better!

Anyways, it would be fun to try making a hobby into a few bucks. I know what would happen though.....I'd wind up owning 3 or 4 boats because i wouldn't want to part with them after fixing 'em up. I'd also be divorced! hmmmmm.....3 or 4 boats and no wife....and that's a BAD thing?!?!?!?

 

[croSSed]

Re: Restoration for profit

The sad thing is, as anyone here knows who has restored a boat, most boat manufacturers cut a lot of corners - exposed wood-core, under-laminated structures, etc. If you buy and restore an old boat, you can make it BETTER than new. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the buying public is ignorant of boat construction and will never see an old boat (even if it truly is better than a new one after the resto.) as being anything but old.

TG